If one thing is certain about the engineers at Alta Motors, it’s that
they don’t fit the usual
electric bike-makers’ mold.
They aren’t driven by the
desire to prove that electric
transportation is the way
of the future. They aren’t
trying to make the planet a
greener place or cut greenhouse gases. They say they
just want to build the best
off-road motorcycle in the
world, and they think that
electric power is the best
path toward that goal. And,
if they happen to contribute
to those other causes along
the way, well, all the better.

Alta CEO Marc Fenigstein
rolled out the renamed
RedShift MX bike at the
AIMExpo in October.

Company founders
Derek Dorresteyn, Jeff
Sand and Marc Fenigstein
are first and foremost
dirt bike enthusiasts
with a passion for motocross. Thanks to the
instant throttle response,
massive torque and
mechanical simplicity of
a battery-powered bike,
they believe that electric
motors are naturally predisposed to be effective
in the sport. While those
have always been attractive attributes, issues
with range (too little) and
weight (too much) always
seemed insurmountable.